(no subject)
Cheeseburger #13. tl;dr with Hot Fudge and Whipped Cream
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1254
Word Count : 784
Kairn found Reida hunched over Tarek’s desk, frantically scribbling notes on a jumble of loose sheets in the shadow of the thickest book he’d ever seen. She didn’t so much as look up as he crossed the room.
He frowned for a moment at the broad, yellowing, hand-written pages, before tucking a finger in the seam to hold her place and flipping the massive cover shut. “The Complete Works of the Celistine Monks, Three Hundred to- this is one of Berwyk’s custom books, isn’t it?”
Reida answered with a grunt.
Kairn opened the book to where she’d left it, ran a thumb over the several inches of pages that remained. “A bit heavy even for you.”
Reida pushed her notes aside with a shrug. “I can’t claim to understand any of it, to be honest,” she said, leaning back in her chair to peer up at him. “I’m just skimming.”
Kairn was pretty sure the volume of papers marked in her own hand strewn across the desk said otherwise, but he didn’t mention it.
“I swear Berwyk must have spent half his ridiculously long life deciphering this crap to know what little he does about it.” She scowled as she jabbed her pen back into the inkwell.
“Then why-?”
Reida paused for a moment, regarding him thoughtfully. “You remember the other day,” she said, hesitantly, “what the new master said about me?”
“That you were two-faced? I think none of us were exactly floored by that one.”
“That’s not what she said though. She said I had two faces.”
Kairn shrugged. “What’s the difference? You know they like twisting words around to make them sound fancier.”
“Master Roul said the same thing, back when I first met him. Remember? The girl with two faces. Just like that. They call Sethan the ‘hand that defies death.’ What if I’m in here too?”
“But Sethan’s a Chosen. He’s got a god in his head and his kid’s supposed to destroy the world. What do you think you’re going to do that’s going to compare with that?”
“It’s a big book. It can’t all be about Sethan.”
Calling the book big was an understatement. Kairn was puzzled as to how she’d managed to lift the thing, and if all the pages were so heavily filled as this one it might take a year to read it. He wondered just how many things that hadn’t happened yet were laid out in those pages, and he found himself edging away from the desk.
“So, what are you going to do if you find yourself in there? I mean, are you looking for instructions or something? What if it just tells you you die a horrible death?”
“Then I’ll have been warned so I can stop it?”
“Can you stop it? I mean they wrote these things hundreds of years ago and sure enough here’s Sethan, just like they said. I can’t even imagine what that’s got to be like, people knowing about things you’re going to do before you’re even born. I’d like to think the decisions I make are mine.”
“It’s written on paper, not set in stone.” A grin spread across her lips. “So, if you’re in here, you wouldn’t want to know?”
“Of course I wouldn’t- Wait, you’ve seen something, haven’t you? I’m in there?” He shot the book a look of horror and Reida’s grin widened. “W-what happens to me?”
“I thought you didn’t want to know.”
“And I didn’t! But now that I know it’s there. A-and I don’t know what it is. And I can’t just pretend that it’s not there or that I don’t know about it, but if I look- I mean, what if I die a horrible death? And-“ He stopped short as Reida was clearly suppressing a laugh. “And you’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am.” Reida laughed. “Why would anyone want to make up prophecies about you anyway?”
“You’re awful.”
“I know.”
“So… are you in there?” He pointed nervously at the text. “And if you are, do I want to know what you do?”
“If I am, I haven’t found it yet.” She frowned at him for a moment. “But you didn’t come here to talk to me about a book you didn’t even know I was reading, did you?”
“Well, no,” he said, taking another step to distance himself from her. “Actually Master Hakaro is looking for you.”
“What’s that old windbag want?”
“He, er, said something about his room being infested with things with claws.”
Reida snickered.
“Not exactly the most subtle retaliation you could think of,” said Kairn. “You might want to go clean it up before he finds you.”
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1254
Word Count : 784
Kairn found Reida hunched over Tarek’s desk, frantically scribbling notes on a jumble of loose sheets in the shadow of the thickest book he’d ever seen. She didn’t so much as look up as he crossed the room.
He frowned for a moment at the broad, yellowing, hand-written pages, before tucking a finger in the seam to hold her place and flipping the massive cover shut. “The Complete Works of the Celistine Monks, Three Hundred to- this is one of Berwyk’s custom books, isn’t it?”
Reida answered with a grunt.
Kairn opened the book to where she’d left it, ran a thumb over the several inches of pages that remained. “A bit heavy even for you.”
Reida pushed her notes aside with a shrug. “I can’t claim to understand any of it, to be honest,” she said, leaning back in her chair to peer up at him. “I’m just skimming.”
Kairn was pretty sure the volume of papers marked in her own hand strewn across the desk said otherwise, but he didn’t mention it.
“I swear Berwyk must have spent half his ridiculously long life deciphering this crap to know what little he does about it.” She scowled as she jabbed her pen back into the inkwell.
“Then why-?”
Reida paused for a moment, regarding him thoughtfully. “You remember the other day,” she said, hesitantly, “what the new master said about me?”
“That you were two-faced? I think none of us were exactly floored by that one.”
“That’s not what she said though. She said I had two faces.”
Kairn shrugged. “What’s the difference? You know they like twisting words around to make them sound fancier.”
“Master Roul said the same thing, back when I first met him. Remember? The girl with two faces. Just like that. They call Sethan the ‘hand that defies death.’ What if I’m in here too?”
“But Sethan’s a Chosen. He’s got a god in his head and his kid’s supposed to destroy the world. What do you think you’re going to do that’s going to compare with that?”
“It’s a big book. It can’t all be about Sethan.”
Calling the book big was an understatement. Kairn was puzzled as to how she’d managed to lift the thing, and if all the pages were so heavily filled as this one it might take a year to read it. He wondered just how many things that hadn’t happened yet were laid out in those pages, and he found himself edging away from the desk.
“So, what are you going to do if you find yourself in there? I mean, are you looking for instructions or something? What if it just tells you you die a horrible death?”
“Then I’ll have been warned so I can stop it?”
“Can you stop it? I mean they wrote these things hundreds of years ago and sure enough here’s Sethan, just like they said. I can’t even imagine what that’s got to be like, people knowing about things you’re going to do before you’re even born. I’d like to think the decisions I make are mine.”
“It’s written on paper, not set in stone.” A grin spread across her lips. “So, if you’re in here, you wouldn’t want to know?”
“Of course I wouldn’t- Wait, you’ve seen something, haven’t you? I’m in there?” He shot the book a look of horror and Reida’s grin widened. “W-what happens to me?”
“I thought you didn’t want to know.”
“And I didn’t! But now that I know it’s there. A-and I don’t know what it is. And I can’t just pretend that it’s not there or that I don’t know about it, but if I look- I mean, what if I die a horrible death? And-“ He stopped short as Reida was clearly suppressing a laugh. “And you’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am.” Reida laughed. “Why would anyone want to make up prophecies about you anyway?”
“You’re awful.”
“I know.”
“So… are you in there?” He pointed nervously at the text. “And if you are, do I want to know what you do?”
“If I am, I haven’t found it yet.” She frowned at him for a moment. “But you didn’t come here to talk to me about a book you didn’t even know I was reading, did you?”
“Well, no,” he said, taking another step to distance himself from her. “Actually Master Hakaro is looking for you.”
“What’s that old windbag want?”
“He, er, said something about his room being infested with things with claws.”
Reida snickered.
“Not exactly the most subtle retaliation you could think of,” said Kairn. “You might want to go clean it up before he finds you.”